Author: Sandra (Blissdementia on VX; Insanekittie19 on FF)
Title: A Fresh Start
Rating: MA Eventually some sexual encounters, a few swear words here and there and possibly a murder!
Fandom: Riddick
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the movie…sadly! I don't make any money from using them. But any other characters you do not recognize, I own!
Summary: It's been 10 years since Jack and Riddick left T2. What's life like now for them?
Archive: Only on VX and FF
Pairing: Riddick/Jack…Eventual
Feedback: Yes please! I understand how the characters are in the movies and that my characters are different from that, but face it this is my story! So please no negative feedback about my characters being different from the movie! Thank you!

Author's Note: In my world, this is after Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick never happened.

Chapter 1

Ten years ago Richard B. Riddick, escaped convict and murderer, died on a God forsaken monster filled planet. After a year mercs gave up looking for Riddick's body, which meant the bounty on his head lapsed.

Riddick wiped the sweat that formed on his hot forehead as he remembered the headlines from some of the papers.

"Famous murderer's life taken by hammerhead monsters." "Deadly criminal, Richard B. Riddick, stopped at last!"

He heard that parties were thrown in his honor, too bad they were thrown because they thought he was dead.

Riddick couldn't stop his mind as it replayed the day that everyone thought he died. For some, ten years was a very long time, to him it seemed like yesterday.

Jack plopped down in the co-pilot's seat, before she buckled herself in. She looked through the big front window, thought about her words and turned her head toward Riddick. She spoke quietly, "Lotta questions, whoever we run into. Could even be a merc ship. So what the hell do we tell them about you?"

Without even a small hesitation, Riddick answered, "Tell them Riddick's dead." A moment passed as he glanced over toward the young girl. "He died somewhere back on that planet," he finished in a voice that Jack almost strained to hear.

He could remember how she looked as she thought about his answer, while she leaned her head back onto the seat. He had watched her for a brief second more before placing his head in the same position.

It made him chuckle at times, as he knew that everyone thought he was dead. Here he was ten years older, healthy and happy growing food for those very people who wrote in the papers.

Riddick sighed as he walked his beautiful tan Clydesdale horses into their stalls to rest for the night. Without even thinking he handed each horse a carrot, his silent daily thanks for their dedicated hard work on the farm.

Leaving the large grey barn, Riddick walked the fifty or so feet up the dirt path to the farm house he purchased some five years before. During that time he had tried to find a place that was secluded, yet with people, Riddick came across Urizane. Urizane was a small farming planet with lots of farmers who exported their crops to other planets for money.

As he walked the path he was surrounded by a small wooded area. Small specks of sunlight danced on the ground, only to disappear as the leaves swayed in the breeze.

The path he was on led him directly to the side of the house. Upon getting there he had a choice as to what steps to take up onto the porch. The five steps on this side were there for a third entry to the wrap around porch. If he climbed these steps he would have to either follow the porch to the back of the house or around front to gain access into his home. Looking up above the side steps was a walk out deck that could be reached only from his second floor bedroom.

As he looked to the right there was a second path that led to the very front of the house. That path would lead him to the main set of steps. These steps took him straight to the front screen door. Quickly he turned down that path.

As he walked he looked up at the two story house. It was grey in color with a black tar roof. There was one window on the second level in the front. This window was open, which allowed the warm afternoon breeze to gain access to Jack's room. On the main floor the two large windows on either side of the door let the breeze swim through the entire house. Under each of these windows was a brown wooden bench that he and Jack had made together, not long after buying the place.

Looking at the porch itself it reminded him of an earth game he had once seen. Chess, or so he thought it was called. The entire outside of the porch had a decorative railing with wood cut outs that looked to be the queen chess piece. These were supposed to stop you from falling over the edge and onto the ground below. But if you were thrown hard enough, they wouldn't stop even the queen.

His eyes roamed to the hanging baskets that Jack had put up. Brightly colored blue and white vinca flowers seemed to dangle from the rafters in hopes to liven up the place; or at least that's the reason Jack gave him when he asked why she insisted on putting flowers everywhere.

Riddick smirked as he looked down to the ground now. Jack practically begged him to let her put in flower beds. He could see how excited she had been when he agreed to it. More brightly colored flowers with names like moon flower, zulu prince daisy, cornflower, evening primrose, phlox and day lily lined the perimeter of their house, along with small ground solar lights, which had also been Jack's idea.

He eyed the moist black dirt under the flowers and it made him frown. "I thought I told her I would help carry the heavy buckets of water from the well." It was more of a statement to himself than a question.

"Jack!" He called out as he bounded up the steps two at a time, "Didn't I tell you that I would help with the watering when I got back tonight?" Riddick questioned as he entered the small living room. He heard no response so he headed into the kitchen.

When she wasn't inside like she normally was when he got home, he frowned again. Listening as carefully as he could, he heard distant humming coming from the back yard. Making his steps into long strides he went out the back door. There he could see her in her canvas pants and baggy pull over shirt as she sat in the shade of a tree snipping the ends off of their fresh garden beans.

"I'm home," he said with a warm tone.

Jack looked up from her bowl and knife. "Hi, I didn't even hear you come in!" She put her knife into the bowl, stood up, walked towards the house and gave him a small smile. "I lost track of time, so dinner isn't ready yet. I thought maybe you could shower as I finish it."

Riddick nodded and just looked at her as he noticed the way her smile seemed forced.

Jack gently touched her hair, "What? Do I have another bug in my hair today?"

He shook his head, "Didn't I tell you that I would help you carry the heavy water buckets from the well so that you could water the flowers?"

She licked her lips and then shook her head as he had done just moments before, "I don't remember hearing anything like that." She quickly turned and headed inside to start dinner.

A chuckle could be heard from the back porch before Riddick entered and smiled at her. "Those are fifty pound buckets Jack; I just don't want you pulling a muscle or something. I need you to help me load the truck tomorrow, we can't afford you hurting yourself the day before our trip to town. That fruit isn't going to load and export itself to Planet Orenda, you know."

A sigh escaped Jack's lips, her back still turned to Riddick as she spoke. "I know and that's why I made about six trips, because I only loaded the buckets half full each time."

Riddick heard the sadness in her voice. He took a step towards her, "Jack, what's wrong?"

Jack leaned with her hands on the counter, "I've just had a bad day is all. Nothing major."

It had taken Riddick a long time to face the fact that Jack was his friend. Scratch that, his only friend. And to top it off he knew damn well that this now twenty three year old woman was his best friend. The only person, other then himself, that he could trust and right now he trusted his gut when it told him she was lying.

Closing the small gap between them Riddick put his hand on her shoulder. He gave it a small reassuring squeeze to let her know he was there for her. After all, he still wasn't good with words.

Jack felt this and turned around to him, wrapping her arms around his body she hugged him.

His arms tightened around her as well, "Did you have a nightmare last night, Jack?" he asked, even though he knew she had.

Riddick had been awakened by the sound of her pacing in her bedroom. The smell of fear and sweat was strong enough to make a weak stomach roll. The eight years since he had gotten Jack back, she had nightmares twice a year; one the night before the anniversary of the Hunter-Gratzner's crash and one the night of. Normally she crawled into bed with him and cried until she fell back to sleep, but last night was different. He knew she wanted to come to him. He could hear her as she reached for the door knob of her own room and then she walked away from it. Why hadn't she come to him? It was a question that he didn't want to ask.